Nishtarian Campus

"Exams are a journey and not a destination. Failure is a lesson and not a judgement."

(Kavita Ghosh)

Multan. September 1997. Second Prof. It was a hot and humid night. Asim Pasha’s room had a cooler. Sarfraz and Adnan were not in the same exam batches as Asim and I. We had to go first alongside the girls. An entertaining Pharmacology viva alongside its buildup prep had just concluded. The news of Diana’s death had stormed as England’s rose had perished. Here Nishtar’s rose was making us perish in the viva.

I had entered her room at about 3 pm.Prior to her, the only clues about the viva in this hugely populated girls batch came from Iffat Akram and Mariam Chaudhry. It went unregistered. Waseem came to support me in the viva. His was a few days later but he wanted to stay as I helped him by being there in his Anatomy one a year ago. She would ask side effects of loads of drugs and once again most of us wished it was Anti tuberculous agents as it was endemic in Pak to be well versed in it. I barely survived Madam’s glaring eyes and was keen to vacate the department as soon as I could.

Madam Shahnaz Aftab

The next day we were all in the pharmacy lab which was like an absolute fish market. We were like the ones in the end with a corner table and as soon as invigilator had left us to make the salts , it was noisy as anything, there were about dozens of girls in that lab openly discussing with each other about answers and methods. There was almost no one to silence them as well. I went to Adnan and said well this is a circus . Are we just allowed to do whatever we choose ? He said the pharmacy practical is a joke. She will just score off the main Viva. We finished pretty quickly actually . We only had to wait for the short viva and off we went.

In the canteen this past week, there was activity.Bushra Ghafoor, Jawad Khan and Muddassir Javed blew candles this week.It was an interesting turn of events as the Virgo folks took over. Muddassir and Ali Yaseen were featured in Reunion Promos reels as well. Ali and Azra continue to razzle dazzle in the canteen keeping it alive consistently during the drought. In the most difficult of times both have maintained consistent day to day presence ensuring the banter continues.Amir Mian joined us from Houston for the Vlog and Shafi Ghauri launched his reunion promo ! An exclusive UK collage from Omar Bhatti was presented as a special release as well.

In 1997, the days between Pharmacology and Forensic Medicine were poles apart. One gathered all the attention and stress whilst other was a pot pourri. The story of “96 footey “ has already been mentioned in the vlogs and is part of N44 folklore. That was prior to the forensic written. What the seniors told us pre Forensic Medicine viva was everything was pre determined. Niaz Baluch had already set the numbers even before you took step. Even if he compliments you in the viva , you can be roasted in the final mark and you might not make it. This was only for males. For females, he would ask many questions and still give very high scoring marks especially to the good looking ones. I said to Asim Pasha, then whats the purpose of this viva ? “ Phir Faida kya hai ? “Or emotions .Adnan reiterated that don’t get happy even if you answer all of them right.

The heat was exasperating. When we entered that morning, it was an unusual sight. There was a sea of yellow all over the forensic corridors all extending to the quadrangle lawns. Everywhere there were “Peele Duppate “( yellow scarves ) worn by the class fellows. It reminded me of the famous yellow day earlier in the year on the class birthday. The theme was all yellow then mixed with a touch of white overalls.Here though Overalls could wait for today. We were like overshadowed and couldn’t believe it. Was this really Nishtar ? September was still summer but the colours had made it autumnal. Anyways, we once again nearly ended post Asar at almost 5 pm. The last ones to exit the building were Asim and I . We were exhausted by the wait. Although we both got compliments by Niaz Baluch chanting “I am fully satisfied ! “ , we knew it might not be enough. We laughed and returned to Iqbal Hall stating at least with the fact its over.

Niaz Baluch

Back in the room , Jareer, Asim Salim and Farhan Bari were together and asking me how it went . I stated the obvious and the sea of yellow. Then Jareer told me “ Addu you can go to Cantt then tonight” .Asim interrupted and said “ Isko zaroorat hai aaj jaane kee “ after theatre in the quadrangle . All four of all laughed together.

The next day I rode the TDCP bus again with Asim Pasha. The 2nd prof had now ended. By the time I arrived in Township, Diana’s funeral had begun which was a sad sight however a few days later, I was joined by a special Razi hall resident. Yes, Hamed came to visit and stay with me in Lahore. He would still be seeing medications of my relatives and talking about their mechanism of actions and side effects, when I took him there. It was a group of diuretics ( anti hypertensives ).Hamed eventually would be our gold medallist in Pharma.

Third year was the best time for many. The second prof was the shortest exam. It lasted less than 3 weeks. There was a lot of stress still attached nevertheless. We knew Pharmacology wasn’t an easy ride. The Shamim book gained a lot of fame during that year. The course was significant but it was dry as well. CK Parikh had us in Forensic and Toxicology. It was an interesting read and ride though. The colour in the prof was punctuated on the last day undoubtedly.

Lahore 2025

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There were other items of interest raised as well. Here he is , forming the countdown for the new blog “The Sea of Yellow”. He has come on N44 vlogs before as well and here sat down with me for a reunion promo. He is none other than Roll No. 135 and a Sahiwal ‘s own - Muhammad Masood !

In Nishtarian era

1995 Badminton Championships in Nishtar

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“Time is the longest distance between two places.” — Tennessee Williams

From Multan , I take one of the longest routes. I will fly over continents to land finally in midwestern USA again. Its been a long time for sure. I am back in Texas and you cant get any more local to his hometown guy . Born and Bred in Houston, he is very close to where he called home before he moved to Nishtar and since he left , he has been still there.An Amazing feat !

If you thought people from locally living in Multan or Pakistan did well in those five years, step back a bit and think about the foreign contingent who came from long distances. Not just KPK or Gilgit or across the gulf states but actually coming from continents abroad. I never thought there would be foreigners in a class travelling from that much a distance to study MBBS in Pakistan and that too in a city in 90’S called Multan. If you though people from the North were alien in South Punjab , well then you haven’t heard of lands far where there were boys and girls travelling from. Students from Malaysia, Maldives ,Mauritius, South Africa and yes even USA travelled to Nishtar in that era.

In Nishtar era

I knew him very well as he was my batch fellow for four straight years alonsgide his elder brother Tahir. That in itself was a feat that there were two of them from the same place , same class and graduated same time. Interestingly, he was the more introvert of the two in that era as Tahir usually would be marginally more social. He was cool composed and very focused and didn’t use an inhaler like his brother. You could see him from very far as he had this characteristic gait. There would be many points I would ponder like how they two will manage but they got on just fine regardless of clincial histories or speaking with clerical staff.

It was good to reunite after 26 years online after tracing him. He was as cool as they come still and ready to do a vlog after seeing a few. Pretty much like Nishtar , he didn’t need much orientation , just got on with it and did it well !

Here he is , father of two, from the world of anaesthesia and still firmly placed in his hometown , Roll no 214, Amir Mian !

Amir Mian recently

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"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit." (Aristotle)

Thanks Khalid , for the heads up on the exclusive !

The six of us were involved in a memorable time in the United Kingdom recently ! The legacy will live for a long time. Yes there was hype but those days with them will be forever etched in memory ! There were so many moments to capture and retell. In time many stories will take shape ! From London to Stanage Edge it was an amazing journey !

I’m delighted that Omar took time out to collect the memories of the trip and develop this collage again as the buildup to Reunion in Multan continues !

Thanks Omar for this and all his support for the upcoming reunion !

Omar Bhatti from Sheffield !

In Bradford

#Reunion2026, #november28 ,#quadrangle, #NMU,#Multan, #zabradast, #bethere #aikheecanteen

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August 1996. Multan. Iqbal Hall.It was still hot and humid. Anatomy had ended.Just the written. We still had physiology and biochemistry left.I had come to the original room just to check up on things in the afternoon. There was dust . The carpet of mine was the same. My things were still intact there including my tape recorder, locked in a cabinet. I just felt that was the best place for it to be in , alongside all cassettes of 1996 era. The big bag that I had brought from Lahore had physio books in it. The ones that mattered of course were Mushtaq volumes 1 and 2. After getting those , I’d be soon headed to Razi Hall again.

There would be solace in the fact Razi’s canteen was the best of that time. They had tea with round sesame covered biscuits in a plastic jar. I rarely had seen those biscuits anywhere else in the city or even Lahore. Probably I didn’t bother to look because in the desperation was such it seemed we were just thankful there was a biscuit to eat . Sometime we would just have doodh patti on its own and it would do the trick.It was popular all around. Razi hall resident s were hooked to it. It served a distraction to all those written papers.In those days of the heat, one would reminisce how great a Febraury or a March was earlier in the year. It seemed ages ago. Those seemed better times than this. Some would gossip a bit if there was any , at those times until the revision re started back in rooms.

Back in the Canteen, we had a week in which Mateen and Saeed starred in the reunion promo reels. The Vlog was with Athar Razzaq and the Reunion promo features two stars in Azlan and Ayat both debuting in the N44 studios with a bang. Some moments are priceless and those two made it a memorable promo that one could look back after some time. The ongoing drought had a bit of an ease in UK but the canteen drought continues to be low keyed and of minimal content apart from the usual folks.

The Drought !

In 1996, Physiology itself had a good enough syllabus to rattle brains. It was just Anatomy dominated the discussion boards too much for anyway to focus more on this subject which was more important to be honest longer term for us. But we had myopic minds then and anything to get through the prof. would suffice. This meant keep the UQ’s coming .You could argue it had a nice department although the lecture theatre always felt very dusty and hardly there was a soul who would focus on the lecture. Attendance was just proxies. I could recall towards the end in one of the last April lectures, I was only thinking of the Pakistan South Africa cricket game in Sharjah taking place and if someone Pakistan could end its losing sequence carried since 1994 against this team.

The 1st prof ended with a Physio test and the result would come out in the prep or around about the time the repeat Anatomy stages would take place. We wouldn’t wait even for the Stage result which came back in a few weeks and that was April. Yet for many, Physiology would be in a long shadow of the dissection hall subject. It would be nearly be six months and half months from the end of that last Crush hall test before another N44 class would take place in the new third year. There would be four months of prep leave and another two months to have the first prof done. The whole of summer would end and that too a summer in Multan which was never ending.

The world stood static in the exam days. Pakistan was touring England and won the Oval test to take the series 2-0. I had no news of this but was pleased when I found out. There was no interest in reading newspapers or listening to BBC’s sport roundup.I didn’t even care for the tape recorder. The days would all mix into one and before you know it, you had to be up and ready going to auditorium. It became a routine. The written papers would come and go.

The air conditioning in the auditorium was the only time you’d get 3 hours of cold in five days. The humid nights in the hostels would be long as mostly people would sleep very late revising. Along the route of Nishtar road , you ll bump into all sorts of personnel. Most of them would be seniors in Prof mode or relieved theres were over. The BDS folks would be faster and had already started their classes even those who are with our sessions. We thought we are the slowest of them all. Patience wasn’t a virtue then.

We would meet our day scholar friends at the Nishtar Tower post exam. There would be discussions on how awful some of the questions went. It was a good congregation whilst it lasted. We would joined by other day scholars of senior or a junior class who would stop bye and comment on the paper or just greet. The smokers would smoke. The weather won’t ease. My hands would have marker paint on it from those taken to the paper. As the candidates separated to all parts of nishtar , mostly home via their own transport, some awaited for the bus. The friends would part for another 4-5 days until the paper re-united them.

Nishtar tower alongside the exam auditorium

The atmosphere built at its peak at 9.30 am would shrink then and a sense of relief in the afternoon’s rising heat index would push all eventually into sheltered quarters. I would return for lunch and then rest wanting to forget the morning’s events and not think too much about what went how.The evening cool would become food for thought. The battles would continue even after Physiology would end. They won’t ease yet… not till some time ….as these would of a different kind !

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With treasure of south punjab vested in those mango carts, he is ready to. board this mission. From his native city , he joins us in this promo. RYK becomes the latest city in the several who have joined the bandwagon in this Reunion journey ! And as days wind down to registration and the real thing , he also counts down the latets blog

“ Battles of a different kind “ ! Here he is , Roll No 153 , Shafi Ghauri !

Shafi Ghauri

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I used to recall him the tall figure in an off white shalwar kameez ever present in each lecture through out the years. He had a soft demeanour. He still does. In the first Reunion, I saw him across the Anatomy corridor close to where the old museum was and girls common room en route to the old canteen. He remained unchanged.

Nishtarian era

I distinctly recall after the opening final year lecture in October 1998 when we were congregating for the batch migrations , I thought I will be migrating to the initial batches. i saw him and he was saying “ what a pandemonium this is “ .Having no idea whether third prof was passed, I bumped into him as the race to migrating batches was on. People were sent flying across different wards. I wanted to get into Medicine 1st batches badly.I did get in only to see the friends going into surgery. He obviously was settled in his batch but the queue was such that it was squashing everyone who even wanted to leave the theatre.

There were few interactions apart from ward or lecture theatres greetings in that era. Of course being first names with A , we both were going to be in the intial prof batches as well.

And yes the legendary Imran series wasn’t mentioned on vlogs directly up till now but it was in a way made it to N44 somehow ! The world of “jasoosi “ digests was expected to make a landing !

Here he is from the banks of Chenab to the Lands of “Indus”, a paediatrician, a neonatologist, a digest reader, a father of three, a helpful cousin, a proud canteener and a Multan resident ,Roll No. 73 , Athar Razzaq !

Current era

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"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion." — Dale Carnegie

Lake Windermere, UK

August, 1997. Dammam.I really didn’t want to be on a plane to Lahore again in August just days before a Prof opener. Instead, I went to Karachi and connected to Multan. I had flown late. This was a longer flight travel but in a way I was able to get to Multan quicker by the end of the same day. I arrived back in Iqbal Hall safely from the airport. Unfortunately, when I reached, I didn’t inform my parents that I had reached safe and sound. The atmosphere was getting wild.

This time Iqbal hall again was as chaotic as a year back. We heard news about Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s death which hadn’t sunk in yet.I had lost all interest even in the Ashes. Waseem and Jareer had been in Sina Hall in 3rd year so I went to Waseem’s seeking some respite from Iqbal Hall. He was sporting a moustache. He was living alone at the time in a dorm but struggling with Pharmacology as a whole. That dorm’s weather was volatile. It would be very super hot in August and chilled in the winters. Anyways, the heat was not the issue at the time.Hamed at this point had moved to a Razi Hall’s dorm. I did go at his place as well for a bit of study.I was a bit of a nomad as I would juggle around the three halls wherever I would envisage an area of comfort zone.

The main exam was Pharmacology and therapeutics. We would call it Pharma. It was one paper and it needed the focus more than Forensic Medicine. There would a week’s gap in between the two written papers. You could easily forego the forensic paper’s prep in favour of the major subject which carried 300 marks.The subject was dry and l wouldn’t be surprised if many were drained with its subject matter. Although there were many books one could use for pharmacology, the Shameem booklet developed a huge vibe during the year. i could recall it was a big help in the CNS test in May 1997.

Back in the Canteen, it was a week of many Leo Birthdays. Ali Yasin, Faisal Cheema, Kashif Mirza, Saima Talib and Asim Salim blew out their candles. Faraz Hameed had his vlog which brought back some interesting feedback all around. The reunion promo reels were of Wasif Warraich and Saif Ullah Bhatti. It was a an amazing Sunday in Sheffield for N44 where the 79th Jashn-e- Azadi celebrations was held and quite a few of my class fellows joined from adjoining areas and far away. Asim Salim cut his 50th birthday cake as well. Omar Bhatti and Imran Janjua visited from USA and took part. Ahmad Raza‘s commentary and Omar’s photos were entertaining. The rest chipped in playing cricket. Taimur Khan ‘s team took the trophy for the N44 match.

N44 in UK on Sunday Reunited in Sheffield !

That dorm gave some mixed vibes. It was spacious for two residents. It had some spookiness if the tubelights were not in full flow. The one tubelight on one side glowing wasn’t enough. When all of us friends were there though with the lights on, it was superb. In the winter of 1996/1997 and 1997/1998 it had great meet-ups with our day scholar colleagues coming there. It was ironic that in 1996 prof, I was partially in Sina Hall’s corner room and the next year Waseem and I shared the dorm in the prof. for a short time.His characteristic hockey stick was there as well whether it was in season or the off season.

It was a few days since my arrival. We heard a knock at the door. Naveed Kashmiri came in . He had asked me to contact my parents who were worried. Waseem and I were stunned.I didn’t know how to contact out of country from Multan and that too from the pedestrian vicinity of Nishtar Road. My best bet were my grandparents in Lahore so I ran in the afternoon to Nishtar road. I called straight away. It would be pricy as it would be a full rate before 6.30 pm. We would wait till 10.30 pm usually before we call as that was quarter rate. A student’s money in Nishtar was valuable.It didn’t matter that afternoon. They were relieved. Such were the times of the 90s where contact was minimal especially in Prof days. It would be at maximum weekly. The exam was a few days away. Waseem didn’t feel that good either and was struggling with personal problems which I didn’t know at the time.The tension spiralled in them few days. The humid heat didn’t help either. I thought he would pull through like our biochemistry viva.

In the anxiety stricken days of the 2nd Prof, we had kept the tiffin system. This time I used to go back to Iqbal Hall and share the tiffins with Farhan and Asim. The buildup to Pharmacology paper was equally painful. It was like no one wanted to chat much again. There was some banter as always there is in hostel. Hamed had a dream run in the prep. He would rise to the occasion and was a medal prospect. Asim Pasha, Sarfraz and Adnan Ajmal were room mates that year and based in the front wing. They had a part to play when the vivas would arrive. During prep leaves, it seemed we we hostelites had the N44 planet to ourselves. We didn’t know if rest of Multan even existed.

On the morning of the great pharmacology exam, I had to take a shower at Iqbal hall again. We had to get ready. It didn’t matter if breakfast was served. We were in dire straits. This written paper meant more than the viva for some unknown reason. I thought life would be easy after 1st prof . Wrong we were. Madam Shahnaz Aftab was not a very strict person at the time but she was regimental in her own ways. You wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of her.Khalid Khakwani would be much worse .Yes she wore red suits many a time but there also stood a red line as an examiner.

Here we go again. Into the auditorium, we went after the clock struck 9. There were many of us who had been in the August of 1996.I was the third male roll number this time, which itself was a “heart sink“ moment. A year after the first prof, we had grown. A vast majority of us weren’t teenagers anymore but it seemed we regressed to being one still.The clock would shoot once again to that 12.30 pm cut off . The pressure of this subject would ease as soon it would end for some. The important question was, have we really done enough to get on top of this. The tubelights in Sina’s dorm needed to be switched fully on still…

This blog is dedicated to the 2nd Prof invigilators.

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After Zainab and Gulwash , these two become the next two individuals coming from the next generation to promote the N44 reunion and they had a blast in the N44 studios as can be expected being energetic , vibrant and distinctly animated. Where do they get that from I gather ?

Their parents should be super proud, Masha Allah . It was my personal pleasure to have directed them on this promo ! Here they are ,the dynamic duo , promoting the new blog “ Tubelights of Hope “ …. Azlan and Ayat Salim !

Back in the days when she was about to turn 3 !

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It was a pleasant surprise. To find him was not simple but it was great to reconnect. I hadn’t heard from his since final prof. days. He was a side room mate in the middle profs and was a figure in our joint hostel allotment when we used to choose rooms collectively. I recall him in first year especially in the upper limb stage working hard for hours. He was in the back wing of Iqbal Hall and continued for all the first four years there. He was trying to cram for the stage with full zest.

I remember him coming to my rooms often checking on how I am doing whilst some of the tests were going on in some of the major subjects.He would have a distinct style of exploring how much syllabus is being covered and inducing unconsciously or consciously how is the prep going ? The tensionising element would be dramatic. But it was all good at the end of the day. It did peak during 3rd prof both in tests and exams.

We would also recall his nickname analogising Lahore famous “Payes” from walled city.

In Nishtarian times

Here he is … in full candid flow from Karachi at a time when he is set to go into another meeting in his role as a industrial hygiene specialist. he currently is based in islamabad but loves to travel. He is Roll No 89 , Faraz Hameed !

This vlog is dedicated to his kids Usman and Bilal !

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Beauty of Pakistan : Murree Hills

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." — Robert Collier

August 16. 1996. Sina Hall, Multan. Around 8.30 am. The morning of the opening paper. We were getting ready to to go to the examination hall. We had Basharat from N45 visiting us to wish us well for the exam. Asim generously ordered 3 breakfasts. I am like “ yaar do we really have time for this “. Its the morning of the prof .On top of that, Sina canteen was gonna take its time for those three . Anyways, as soon as the breakfasts came, we were on fast forwards. We really had to rush. We were walking fast paced. As it was at least 400 metres away the distance and more if we took the paved path and not through the hostel ground which some used to take as well.

In all this hurry, we were pleasantly distracted from whether we will remember all the stuff we had revised. As the examination hall neared, we had this anxiety of something dreadful. We did enjoy the fact all the day scholar crowd was back. Ahmad Raza, Imran Janjua , Ali Asghar and Waseem Pasha (who were both day scholars at the time) and Ali Malik all had arrived. Ali Chaudhry was there so was Bilal Nasir. Of course, the grand arrival of Jareer Sufian if he had put an alarm or somebody had woken him up. Omar Bhatti arrived as well. The girls were also there. It was like a premiere of a movie.Everyone had made it by 9 am. The Razi Hall duo of Adnan Ajmal and Hamed Anwer made it. They were my sidekicks pre and during prof as well. The conversations grew louder by the minute. The hall was about to open soon and people were lining up outside the veiled door as if they had movie tickets.

Back in the modern day times of the canteen, the holidays continued.The UK turns into a drought and the canteen followed. I was involved in the first ever Nishtarian Summer Festival hosted by the NSUKI. The society is 40 years old as well. It was the first time I witnessed a mixed cricket match comprising of youngsters, women , and old and new both alumni in UK amongst Nishtarians in Leicester. I had the honour of commentating and umpiring and hosting as well. The promo reels continued with Usman Afzal and Sajida Imran’s. The Reunion bandwagon marches on.In all this it was good to see Waseem in Murree enjoying his time off.

As the doors in 1996 opened, we looked at our roll numbers and then grabbed the desk. There was noise and then there was chaos as everyone hustled to get a chair and desk and sit down and settle themselves. This was just the first part. We had to wait a bit more to get the answer sheets sorted and write down essentials. There were pens and marker pens. The hush came when everyone was seated and the question sheets came around. All of us who were outside trying to laugh with each other now were boundaried into our small desks and looking down. You had those five questions to do. One was compulsary and it had be a notorius Histology one everyone was going to eye. You could probably do it last if you wished or if you weren’t very good at it.

Anyways, 3 hours would pass as if there wasn’t enough time . Towards the end the noise again escalated and the quorum seemed as it it had enough of the peace. There were chatterings. The invigilators had their work cut out. People were aksing for extra sheets. Asim usually went very early in the first 30 minutes asking for a sheet. That woudl absolutely shock the house . What is he writing about ? Anyways I think sometimes even if he was blank , he ‘ll just ask for a sheet in case he needs later. Bilal Nasir couldn’t believe it. After the exam finished, he is god smacked as to why peopl ae asking for sheets. Hamed would say there is no need for the extar sheet, just use the space you have and don’t write big. Eventually yes diagrams do take up place. Adnan would love to draw his nerves in green , his arteries in red and vein in blue. This is not an art competition , I said later. He said nice diagrams are good in the paper.

It became a race for extra sheets and pandemonium, as people would start asking a lot about answers in the last 30 minutes.This although was getting exciting , but I didn’t wish to bother many near me and due to the fact i was seated with the wall on one side , I had one side and the guy ahead of me. I continued with my need for sheets though. The diagrams were necessary and just like our seniors said , explain the diagrams will help.

We couldn’t wait for the time to end and use threads to attach . Jareer won’t hand in the paper till late. Some would get their answer sheets snatched as it was about time.The fun and games of written exams had begun. People were moaning about the mandatory question of Histology question.Although it wasn’t a UQ , I had just about got the strata of epidermis sorted. The consensus was it wasn’t a good paper based on that.

We had four more days for Anatomy B to sort. It was gonna be a tough task still especially as we couldn’t afford a difficult paper. Some of the questions were always based for a written paper such as those typical stage questions like Circle of Willis used in brain stage, lymphatic drainage of the breast, in upper limb and Diaphragm used in Thorax Abdomen stage. The Prof exam amalgamated these with the added component of Histology and Embryology which never had been tested in regular classes. What was hilarious when the Histology viva came about , the stupidity that surrounded histology slides to be told in a pneumonic sort of way to identify. Phrases like “lambe lambe bans” as buzzwords drew attention and caused so many of us to laugh. What kind of an exam is this ,we pondered.

The comedies of the Prof were few and far between but we enjoyed it . Nishtar was not just about exams but how we approached it and the rest of the fluctuations.The hostelite guide was so enthralling so much that in the viva portion many day scholars would camp here and stay on till the vivas. More surprises awaited us after Anatomy ended… The challenge had just started !

This blog is dedicated to the invigilators of First Prof !

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The journey takes a passage between the north and south of the province. Its one to recall though in the times when trains used to take us across the dust laden tracks and villages.

With about three and half months left, Multan warms up another reunion promo ! She came just recently in a Vlog and here she is promoting the reunion with another rapid fire !

There is just one date to remember for all coming this year to the Reunion:

Its the 28th of November !

Here she is presenting the countdown for the new blog “ That August Challenge “

Roll no.50 - Saleha Narjis

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Choose to be optimistic - it feels better ( Dalai Lama )

From Multan , I had to fly back to UK waters. Yes ,yet another UK colleague who I have had the opportunity to meet. With so many N44 colleagues based here in the British Isles, it will be no surprise if the proportion of overseas delegates for this reunion will be Uk tilted.

My next vlog guest had spent time in Saudi Arabia and is yet another paediatrician. He is very much family based gentleman but we used to recall him back in the time as In the 90’s pakistani cricket had two shining stars in 2 W’s. One of the W’s Waqar Younis hailed from Burewala in South Punjab. Mirza Sahib also had a keen interest in being a fast bowler in those days and carried on this passion till now.

One of the behind the scenes stories he told me was when we used to play in 2nd year cricket in the quadrangle. He recollected an incidence when I scored a boundary off him when he was in full steam bowling.

3rd year class function with Mazhar Manzoor

Here he is once again at full steam, Roll No 272,” Mirza Sahib” Shahid Ur Rahman !

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This vlog is dedicated to Muhammad Rehman, his son !

N44 Manchester Reunion 2025 !

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August 1996. Dammam. The 1st prof prep is in its climax.The Atlanta Olympics has just ended and my flight to Lahore was due. I was being driven to the airport. It had been more than 2 months here. The prep leaves had begun by April 15. The air of tension was increasing. We still had 10 days before the 1st exam. I needed to be in Multan pretty much as soon as. When I reached Lahore, I didn’t even have interest in the second test that began in Headingley between England and Pakistan. I was pretty much into last minute book packing for Multan was in place that afternoon. The stress levels elevated and were about to double in Nishtar.

Atlanta :Michael Johnson set the fastest ever time for 200m sprint at the time winning the gold .

A year ago , I was in Iqbal hall not knowing if I have a room to go to. Now I knew I had a room but when I got there , there was no room mate. I was a bit stunned. The grape vine was he had moved across to a Sina Hall cubicle vacated by a BDS senior whoe final prof had ended. I rushed towards Sina Hall to find him. He was sitting on a charpai revising. I was like “ whats happening here “. Anyways it was less hot in Sina hall than Iqbal Hall and though it was bit crowded. I tried to fit in. We were cramped. Although I would abscond to Razi Hall as well where the room space was even worse. The days were counting down and anywhere than Iqbal Hall would suffice.

Examination hall ,2025

With the profs , the respite was it would be conducted in the air conditioned auditorium. The auditorium would open about 15 mins before time and would be flooded in by the whole class who would line up the corridors with nervous anticipation. On the stage they placed girls desks. Downstairs, were the guys. At first it looked very cozy being near the wall. The wooden desks looked as if they would break easily. I had seen even the posh Waseem Pasha ( he hadn’t lived in a hostel by then) had to endure those seats as I looked him from a distance when he was seated as he gave me a fade away wave. He had worn his spectacles. In the first paper, in the first prof. an interesting thing happened. We were allotted roll numbers but the boys didn’t exactly stick to their seats, and sat somewhere close to where they wished. It was a somewhat chaotic 10 mins before the paper started. The early roll numbers in which I was one of them stuck to air conditioning quadrangle side wall of the auditorium and enjoyed a bird’s eye view until the paper began !

Five days later, the invigilators were more alert. They made us stick to our seats and very vigilant. Anatomy 2 paper - The first question being mandatory and the embryo question of the “uterus” alleviated a load of anxiety. There couldn’t have been a more UQ based mandatory question.Relief for many. It didn’t matter if you had or had not revised the biochemistry in your prep leave. It did the world if you knew your embryology mandatory question though. It is because everyone will take about anatomy even 6 weeks after the paper has finished. Thats how long it took to get to the anatomy viva. That afternoon , we then could go at our temporary residence in Sina Hall and rest for a degree of time munching on the tiffin lunch of Bhutta Hall listening to Asim’ s old style cassette player which had that Sajjad Ali song from his Moody album “ Chal Jhooti “ that he used to like a lot in that time. It was humid and hot . We had the fan and some hours of day time sleep. Possibly an evening of rest before physio began. The song that I was more interested in then was one from Awaz. Their new album was out and had the controversial “Mr. Fraudiye” played. That song depicted what the Anatomy 1 paper’s 1st question on histology was …. a question on skin .

The famous Sajjad Ali album

Back in the Canteen, some more Leo birthdays were celebrated. Sadia Chaudhry and Shakil ur Rehman were the latest blowing candles.Reunion Promo reels were released of Fida Buzdar and Shafiq Tahir. we stayed in Multan with Saleha Nargis for the weekend vlog and Athar Razzaq for the Reunion promo. The drums in the HQ have started rolling and it is getting louder !

Before Anatomy two , I opened the UQ book and saw this awkward question of orbital walls. Asim said to ask Tariq Khan who had second place in Anatomy in 1995. Only Talha Nazeer Malik was able to get more marks than him. He lived a few doors down in Sina from our room. He was getting ready to go to Cantt. He was full on ready looking in his mirrors with songs playing in the background. It seemed like going to Cantt was half the interest. The hype that guys did when dressing up in cotton rich ironed dress shirt and jeans was a sight to watch. I was looking at this scenario in my own casual shalwar kameez and felt the demise of the prof was full on. I respectfully knocked at his door and politely asked the question. He looked in a good mood . After all he was having an evening out . He sounded a bit puzzled by it as well. He said to me astutely , it wont come as a full on question , it will come in parts, make sure you have a good diagram of the orbit sketched.I went back chilled. Off he went gleefully in the August humidity.

With two of the most crucial papers done, the world looked a better place. There was a whole raft of written papers left .We wont be done until another 8 weeks. But we didn’t have a choice. It was the first prof. Some of my seniors stated its like “ first labour”. We had to a huge syllabus of physiology awaited but had at least 4 days each for the two papers. Soon the time would come to go back in that dreaded examination hall. There was no looking back.Everything after Anatomy could only get better !

This blog is dedicated to Tariq Khan ( N43)

Sahiwal Reunion !

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In the last year, he was the inspiration behind a famous canteen activity of registering one’s favourite places travelled. He is the admin of an endurable N44 guys only group “ Diamonds and Pearls “. The spring and summer has kept him busy with home and clinical commitments but I’m glad finally found some time to chat some interesting takes on the Reunion ! He has always been a protagonist of meet ups and reunions.

Here he is … leaving his surgical hat off and wearing a Nishtar one to set the countdown for my new blog “ August and Everything after !”…. Roll No. 287 , Khalid Mahmood !

Khalid Last year

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She was known in the class as she is a daughter of renowned Nishtarian clinician. For the rest of how things were in that era, tune in to her vlog. She is out and out born, bred and based in the city and possibly the closest day scholar in that era living in the Doctors colony within the Nishtar campus very close to the main Nishtar pre medical blocks where we sat in our classes.

Nishtarian era

She is practicing still in the city in her own hospital. Two of the books mentioned as her favoured publications about Multan she recommends are

• Multan Ki Khoj

• Khud shanasai ka Safar, both authored by Haroon Pasha

It is interesting to note reading has always been her interest as well as the many incidents she recalls from that era .

For now…. I present my classfellow and a canteener , Roll no. 50, Saleha Narjis !

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This Vlog is dedicated to her children Junaina and Nabeeha !

N44 friendships : A blast from the past !

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Nishtar’s sky view inclusive of college campus, Nishtar Bridge ,Qasim hall and the Jamia mosque, Multan

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” — John Dewey

April 1995. Bahawalpur, Ghazali Hall. It was mess time and it was a nearly a week before I was set to join Nishtar. As I entered the mess, there was a song being played on TV “ Jetain gay “. It was from the fourth album of the popular Pakistani band “ Vital Signs “. It strung a cord in me . the same patriotic song that many years ago was brought about their flagship song “ Dil Dil Pakistan”. Pakistan had just beaten India as well in the Asia cup played in Sharjah during that week. Those were the days when you didn’t even realise when an album will be released locally or the songs won’t be ready to hand until you buy a music cassette. No Youtube Music or no online apps to download music.

I was like this cassette needs to be bought. A few days later I found out Junaid Jamshed has released a solo album “Tumhara aur Mera Naam”. I was already not knowing much about the Vital Signs album , the Junaid album shocked me. It was an age when the Pak pop music was hitting waves. The Music channel charts and Pepsi top of the pops were making a mark and the youth loved it. In a month , I had become out of touch of what was happening as the bombardment of lower limb stage in anatomy had changed the world upside down. Those femoral and gluteal arteries, sartorius, rectus femoris and tibial nerves were taking their course on me.

After getting the student section stuff sorted for my roll number and 1st year fee ,I was keen to know where my hostel would be.It turned out to be the big four floor building right in the middle of the hostel campus. They called it Iqbal hall. I went to the second floor to get a charpai and then into a front wing of that top floor. It was a triseater room , Room no. 60. Another two chaps 227 and 228 enrolled before me got the same room. That charpai I would keep all of my Nishtarian career till my final day of Qasim Hall ( post final prof days ).

Iqbal Hall

Afterwards , I walked to the one end of the college called the Anatomy department. into Nishtar day 1 , there were a lot of new faces to see .It was a huge class with a huge dissection hall. Both aspects were better than QAMC for sure. It didn’t seems anyone was doing much dissection though. They were wearing white overalls.They were in a bit of awe seeing me, like coming in April, a few months late. I had come to know they were all waiting for the first stage. It was the first time I saw this huge green space called the “ quadrangle “ from the window panes. Even before I came to the dissection hall.

Dissection hall

One of my mother’s close friends in Lahore phoned her prior to her coming to Multan. It was regarding a neighbour’s son who was enrolled . His name was Farooq Ashraf . I was asked to meet Farooq Ashraf as he was a hostelite and also from Lahore. He was a chain smoker nicknamed “ Dr. Dunhill “. It seemed I met all the other characters of first year that morning as Farooq was late to dissection. I had met Asim Salim , Kashif Ali Khan, Akif Dilshad, Muddassir Javed and Wasif Warraich who I knew from GC, Lahore. I had also been acquainted with Waseem Pasha of Aitchison. There were many from Lahore in those days before upgrading who I would meet later in the hostel. After meeting Ahmad Raza, Imran Janjua and Omar Haseeb Bhatti in the hall, Farooq took me to have a tour of this campus. I have recited this story before , I know. His close friend Bilal Nasir was from Hassan Abdal cadet college, who I met alongside Mohammad Ali Chaudhry and Mohammad Ali Malik on the long physio corridor joining the library.

Who knew that Farooq would become a mere standby individual and the rest would become long lasting Nishtarian mates.I was the newbie at least before the upgraded lot came. He eventually was upgraded to AIMC in 1st year and then came back to Nishtar as a migrant as part of N45. He suffered from gastroenteritis so wasn’t able to sit in the first stage, something he was upset about even though he hadn’t prepared for the stage. He used to loiter with seniors on the ground floor of Iqbal Hall rather than mingle with his own class. Jareer Sufian was our room mate. He ,on the other hand was just a new guy in hostel like me toiled to somehow pass the upper limb stage. Girls wise, a few names surfaced, mostly Asim’s batch fellows, but they were mostly upgraded later to FJMC during those early days and there were not in my batch. There were two girls whose roll numbers were with us in boys, Afifa Farrukh and Sim Sharon who also came late to Nishtar.

In the canteen last week, Ali Malik and Afsheen Fatima blew birthday candles on their astro twin date of July 25 ,divided into 2 segments. Part 1 and Part 2 of the celebratory wishes were sandwiching the new Shafi Ghauri Vlog. Asma Chaudhry had hers a few days earlier. A year ago , I recalled launching the “female cricketers quiz” and the Bilal Nasir vlog trailer all on the same Thursday night. Ali Malik’s birthday was the first ever to be celebrated in a night session in a change of tradition for the canteen.I didn’t want to wait till the morning . It turned out to be a good omen as next day we found out through the girls group news that Afsheen’s birthday was also the same day. The saga of Leo birthdays had begun.

When I got to Lahore in late April 1995, I managed to buy the Vital Signs and Junaid Jamshed cassettes and listen to them. Songs from the former album like “Guzray Zamane Wale” and “ Jannan Jannan” appealed and then there was this sombre title track called “ Hum Tum”. Although I was enrolled in Nishtar and the guys all looked like they were a nice bunch, I didn’t wish to go back to Multan. Lahore was a much better city by all accounts. I also recalled that I didn’t bring my cassette player then. I had moved to Farooq’s room in back wing and he had a big old style stereo player. i thought there was no need for another . However it actually broke down in back wing’s “ Pani wali raat “ in early May.

I met a tall individual in the back wing of Iqbal Hall in those nights who hailed from Jeddah. His name was Hamed Anwar. He actually went to a sehroza post stage. Many 1st year folks did.He liked rave music which was an in thing in UK at the time.He had played a song from Prodigy which I thought was cool. At least some one knew english music as well. For the first time in Room No 160 , ( Farooq Jareer and my room) I heard the famous Rod Stewart’s 1988 song “ Forever Young”. It was amazing but Farooq’s stereo broke down so I never had the chance to know more about it the pre internet era.

Vital Signs would become legendary in the 90’s and so did Junaid. The rivalry with Junoon was palpable once the follow up albums came out. Our Nishtar era was littered with both bands’ songs. It was utter euphoria at times. It was our entertainment in a so called reserved city and a conservative climate. There were loads of songs notably “ Yeh Shaam “ of Vital signs which used to be played at every major bonfire and class function of most batches.” Jazba e Junoon” and “Sayonee” were equally strong tracks.

But yeah… it was an era of classic pak pop songs with a clash of the styles and soon a clash of cultures was about to ensue ….

This blog is dedicated to the worker who provided my first and only charpai in Nishtar in April 1995.

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Follow me on Tiktok: sportsfan1977 and N44 Nishtarian Fb page ! Next reunion promo reel is on Thursday !

As the Reunion bandwagon gather steams , I traverse 8 kms from NMU , in the cantonment region called Askari 2. Askari is famous for many purposes but in this peace loving times , it is the site for the latest Reunion promo.

He is well known for being the 4th male roll number of the class.He was an “A” batch regular - the “Khushka “ batch . I recall him being the tall cool day-scholar wearing shalwar qameez. I would at times have random conversations with him . He was very chilled then. His batch known as the “ nerdy” batch and he would be sandwiched in between some characters.

More on him when his vlog comes… right now I sat with him for 2026 reunion promo. He counts down my latest blog “ Hum Tum “ today as well . This chilled canteener had some good memories of the N44 era .Here he is Roll no 73 . Athar Razzaq !

Athar at Reunion 2025

Golden boys and girls of 1999.

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Bhong mosque

My next colleague originally hails from this region, a hostelite in Iqbal hall like me. He was a quiet chap. He has been a silent canteener . He works in urology .Though I didn’t have much interaction in college with him, it was good to sit down in the studios to explore more about how things were in Nishtar era. He has always been a keen proponent of regular reunions.

Here he is from Rahim Yar Khan, a urologist and a fan of current affairs vlogs Roll no. 153……Shafi Ghauri !

Recent pic

This vlog is dedicated to his kids ( Asif, Faisal , Khalida, Usman )

Reunion Girls

August awaited

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” (Plato)

Multan

July 1995. Qatif, Saudi Arabia. Soon it will time back to fly back to Lahore and then to Multan.The last leg of expat dinners are taking place at various friend’s houses. My friend who studied in USA and was back on summer holiday her broke his fibula in May has now almost recovered.I can go to his place now. One of the last trips. His family would move to Karachi the following year, permanently.

It was a contrasting summer. You had the best mangoes in homes and in the hostels no one talked of it. All along the summer feasts at home , there was always a indulgence even in Saudi Arabia to have mangoes.They were Pakistani exports.It didn’t matter if it was Sindhri or Chaunsa for many years of my youth.As long as it was clean texture , we the kids would love it. I didn’t think in Qatif there was any other family who would adore mangoes that much. Yes they would be pricy. The other logistic was when we would purchase it in the fruit market it would be around 9-10 pm. However as soon as we get home we used to refridgrate it so we could have at least a dose that night. It was very possible. For many summers this used to be the case.Even being in Nishtar didn’t change that.

It was ironic though that the best mangoes was the place I had left to come home. I recall not being very interested in the mangoes of Nishtar Road regardless it being August. Well there was hardly any cause of interest in intense summer days. It was a like you are far away from home. The only respite was you weren’t alone. There were 275 of us and a lot of them in that oppressive difficult hostel setting of Iqbal Hall. Most of the corridors were dark at night. The food wasn’t much to talk about. I still recall people eating some vegetables for for the first time. Asim’s white shalwar kameez though was ideal for those summer days and nights. He would use it for night coach travel as well. In those nights, we hardly would have thought the Mangoes outside were an option whether it was May or August. There would be far too much happening in Anatomy to keep the whole class and myself engaged. These would be reserved for when we would be at home.

Last week in the canteen saw the release of the anniversary blog. In buildup to it, as expected, I went through many flashback moments of the vlog recordings. The time when Imran Janjua wanted to minimise the recording time. The first take of Waseem’s vlog when he was like unable to voice the tongue twisting words of the countdown. The time that Ali Malik had to stop the recording to attend to a phone call. The time when Jareer walked out of the Barnstaple version of the vlog only to re-record later in a studio version twice. The time when I lost Naeem’s original video recording and only had an audio version. The time when Irfan asked me post recording whether his vlog incident needed some censoring. There is a whole bloopers edition of the takes which would become memorable equally in time.

We are notorius for not cherishing the living enough and missing them immensely when they are not with us. The Reunion hopefully wishes to change that context. There are memories to be made and although Multan of 1995 is of a different aura and era, which we will never be able to fully re enact, there will pacification for some. But can the self be truly pacified ?

Back in 1995, a small Dawn Bun was being sought more for in the warm morning to make it breakfast material if no one wants to to have a hot breakfast given the temperatures. Mangoes were far from being though of. Though many of the hostelites were fans of this fruit, they would also not particularly buy in the first year at least.Yet there were some class fellows who in the Nishtar era would transport Mango crates to various individuals as a well orchestrated bribes. In the final year summer ,when Waseem Pasha who loved Dusehris took Jareer and myself to a Nishtar road mango party, it was fun. Waseem had hyped up the mangoes like anything. He was a hostelite at the time. Jareer and I were huge fans as well. All three still are.We went late. They were ice cold. They were perfect buys to eat at site. Not for the fact I ate most but I was like Multan is famous for this and we were devoid in many preps of buying these.

Haram Gate

Prior to this, in June , I had started buying those green Fajaris from the roadside and although they were tangy at first , I got used to them. In Qasim Hall, one of our juniors in 1999, Azmi went onto make a Mango milkshake as he had a blender. It was amazing.Im sure they would have tasted better than Malaysian ones he was used to.

Multan is no doubt famous for this king fruit. The heat makes it even better formula for them. Anwer Retols wears the crown jewels in this regard. One cannot get enough of this variety. Its aroma is full of life. But the heat also meant it was to consumed very soon.The famous saying goes one should have raw lassi with it as well. Well, forget about the lassi of that nature in Nishtar road. With dairy being potentially at high risk to go bad quickly, there was hesitation in anything more than 250mls of a milk packetin those times. I guess Doodh Patti in hostel canteens would be something for everyone thereby to consume safely.

31 years later, the Anwar Retols still line up globally and the Pakistani exports flood the UK market. They are as good as they would be except if you wish to eat near Gulgasht or the gates of Multan.Every summer, there will be a variety that would stand out. For the city that s famed for a house of gold, this is the real gold !

Anwer Retols

This blog is dedicated to the fruit vendors of Multan !

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